


Transformers Prime: Macross Rising

by Angelum_Tenebrarum



Category: Robotech The Macross Saga, Transformers: Prime, 超時空要塞マクロス | Super Dimension Fortress Macross
Genre: Alternate Universe, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2020-10-17 23:37:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20629433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelum_Tenebrarum/pseuds/Angelum_Tenebrarum
Summary: Six years after the devastating Unification War, three years after the Autobots' arrival on Earth, Jack Darby falls victim to horrible chance just after his victory in restoring Optimus Prime with the Key to Vector Sigma. Now, the mysterious SMS enters the Cybertronian War, armed with fifteen-year-old secrets and a mysterious war machine.





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Unicron started to awaken and threatened to destroy Earth, the Autobots charged into the World-Eater's sparkchamber, after being reluctantly led by Megatron, where Optimus Prime used the matrix of leadership to return the titan to stasis at the cost of his memories as a Prime. Returning him to humble Orion Pax, data-clerk of Iacon. Taking advantage of this, Megatron kidnapped Orion under a false pretense of an old friendship hoping to use Orion's naivete and knowledge to decode the stolen Iacon database. The rest of Team Prime hatched a plan to use the hidden decepticon Space Bridge to reach the ruined Cybertron and find Vector Sigma and recover the lost memories. Orion quickly learned the truth and went to meet his forgotten team but Megatron is willing to do anything to prevent his Nemesis' return. The resulting conflict can only end in tragedy but a glimmer of hope shines on the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is Macross Rising by Knightmare Gundam of Ni. He allowed me to pick up this story. The first two chapters are his and I published them as close to word by word as possible. I'll try to keep it as close to the style he wrote this in, but we do have our difference. I originally posted this on Fanfiction.net then I discovered AO3 decided to post on here for a larger audience.
> 
> And with that disclaimers and enjoy.
> 
> Either I or Knightmare Gundam of Ni don't the rights to Robotech, Macross, and Transformers Prime. The rights go to Harmony gold or wait… Sony now and Hasbro, respectfully.

**Transformers Prime: Macross Rising**

**Prologue**

**Decepticon SpaceBridge Chamber, Earth  
January 22, 2014 A.D.**

I hurried into the Spacebridge portal, Arcee revving before me. The swirling green vortex consumed her, and then me. The dizzying sensation of the portal was present for only a moment, and when I came out, it was to see Arcee tackling Megatron himself, and Optimus – or, Orion as he knew himself now – climbing to his feet with his back towards me.

After glancing at the fight before him, the amnesiac Prime turned to look at me, as I held the Key to Vector Sigma, the frail-looking device glowing with power.

"Are you…" It was strange to see him so hesitant…a stark contrast to his certainty as Optimus Prime…and strangely familiar. Ratchet was right. Orion Pax was like me…and I like him. "…certain I am worthy?"

"You have no idea," I replied, holding the key up higher. A beam of energy trailed from it, flowing onto Orion's chest for a moment, before the plates shifted away, revealing the Matrix of Leadership within. I watched as the energy flowed and saw Orion's hesitant expression morph into the stern expression of Optimus Prime. The Key floated swiftly out of my hand, up to Optimus, who reached up and held it between two of his massive fingers.

I heard a thudding gait and turned to see Megatron charging for Optimus. He leaped, his blade extending out from beneath his Fusion Cannon.

"**NO!" **He roared, striking down at Optimus' back.

And then, in a moment that I would forever know as 'the raddest thing ever' (as Miko would say) Optimus whirled about and grabbed Megatron's blade in both hands!

"Megatron…Begone!" He growled, drawing his hand back as his faceplate slid into position, slamming Megatron with a punch that threw him twenty meters back, the Decepticons' leader colliding with the cavern wall. With that blow, the Autobots seemed revitalized, the entire team reassembling around Optimus like he never left.

My heart swelled with joy.

"Ratchet, how did we arrive here?" Optimus asked suddenly aware of his surroundings.

"Long story, old friend." Ratchet's relief was rather audible.

"Base to Arcee, we're reading five Autobot life signs there, Is Prime with you?"

"And Jack."

I heard the sighs of relief coming from my friends and my mom over the commlink.

And then, I saw Megatron's arm reach up, and claw at the walkway leading to the Spacebridge.

Saw his Fusion Cannon glow with Energon.

Megatron's head wasn't even above the walkway. I was behind Arcee and Optimus, almost completely shielded by their legs. It was a one-in-a-million shot.

I guess it was that one.

One second, the joy was being replaced with instinctual fear, the-fight-or-flight instinct turning to fight.

Another, unbearable heat. Pain. Agony. And screaming.

My screaming

The pain and screaming seemed to last hours, maybe days. Occasionally, it seemed my screams lessened enough for me to hear other conversations.

"Jack! Oh my god, Jack!"

"Raf, look away!"

"We've got to get him to a hospital!"

Hours more of agony. Brief snippets of speech.

"-ird-degree burns over more than two-thirds-"

Burning.

"-damage, high chances of developing cancer, if he lives that long-"

Suffering.

"-urological damage, likely to be tetraplegic-"

Crippled.

From what little I could tell through the haze of pain it didn't seem likely my life was going to be pleasing from now on. Thankfully, the haze of pain soon dissipated…only to be replaced by the haze caused by what appeared to be a ludicrous amount of pain medication. I could tell because everything was numb.

From that point on, I drifted in and out of consciousness. Occasionally, I came to, to see white hospital walls and sheets. Sometimes, there was someone by my bed. Mom. Miko. Raf. One time, I saw Arcee staring in through the window. Never long though, since I lost consciousness just as often, and as quick.

I don't know how long I was, maybe days, weeks, hell, it might have months, but I felt myself waking up, clarity in my head for once in ages. And pain. Minor aches, mostly, but it was growing steadily worse.

"Mr. Darby. Mr. Darby, can you hear me?" My vision was still fuzzy. All I could make out were what looked like two black blobs in front of me, contrasting with the white hospital décor. My vision cleared up a little more every second though, and soon I could make out two men who perfectly fit the Men In Black secret-agent-type, from the stiff-looking suits and ties to the shades and little flesh-colored earpieces.

"Mr. Darby?"

"I hear you." Damn. My voice was _rough_.

"Mr. Darby, we have an offer for you. Before you accept, allow me to explain your situation."

I was listening.

"You are in the critical care ward of Jasper General Hospital. Approximately seventy-two percent of your body is covered in third-degree burns and the rest is second-degree, with an area on the back of your head with 'only' a first-degree burn. Radiation damage to your nervous system has effectively made you a tetraplegic. You can't move your arms and legs."

He was right. I couldn't.

"The doctors are predicting that the radiation exposure has made developing cancer of one type or another virtually certain."

A Crappy cherry on top of a shit sundae.

"I am here to offer you a chance to escape that."

Say what? I stared blankly for a second before it turned into a scornful glare.

"I expected that. However, this is no joke, no cruel prank." He reached within his jacket, withdrawing a card and holding it in front of me.

**N**ew **U**nited **N**ations

**S**pecial **M**ilitary **S**ervice

"I belong to a special NUN organization that has spent the past fifteen years developing new technologies – and my superiors believe you are a candidate for one of them. I have to warn you of the consequences: you'll lose your body. Your friends and mother will think you're dead. And you may lose your memories for a while."

"…h-how…"

"It'll be a surgical operation. Removing your brain and placing it in a cybernetic war machine. You will effectively become government property. But you'll get to live, to move, and in ways that weren't possible, even before your…injury. And provided all goes well, you'll regain your memories soon enough."

I hesitated. It was a tough thing, to sign over your life to the government. For any reason, even in a position like mine. Then the other man spoke.

"You'll get to work with the Autobots. To help them in battle."

I closed my eyes. There it was. That wonderful, beautiful bait. A promise of that joy of success again.

"I'll do it."

There was a quiet rustle, and I opened my eyes to see the second agent inserting a syringe needle into the IV. Within a minute, my vision darkened, and the heart monitor, unobtrusive in the background, started to beep frantically, before giving a dead tone as I fell unconscious.

For the longest time, all was the familiar, blissful dark of unconsciousness. Then, it was a void

A dark forbidding void.

Am I dead?

…

…

> **BOOTING CYBERNETIC NUERO-CAPSULE…**
> 
> **TESTING NEURO-CIRCUITRY CONNECTIONS…**
> 
> **TESTING DATA-RECEPTOR CONNECTIONS  
CONNECTIONS ESTABLISHED**
> 
> **TESTING COMMAND CONNECTIONS…  
CONNECTIONS ESTABLISHED**
> 
> **TESTING PROCESSING CONNECTIONS…  
CONNECTIONS ESTABLISHED**
> 
> **ALL NEURO-CIRCUITRY CONNECTIONS ESTABLISHED**
> 
> **FORMATTING …  
SELECTIVE FORMAT IN PROGRESS…**
> 
> **FORMAT COMPLETE**
> 
> **UPLOADING BOOT RESULTS TO SMS_COMMAND**
> 
> **AWAITING COMMAND**

"Jack? Jack, can you hear us?"

"It's no use. Look like his memories and personality were wiped in the format."

"Damn it…I'd hoped he was young enough to adapt…"

"Well, he's working out much better than the previous volunteer. Sure, there's the memory and personality loss, but the neuro-capsule's circuit connections to his brain seem to be functioning…I wonder what results we could get by using the Esquival kid…"

"None! The Ethics Committee would never sanction any attempt to acquire Rafael Esquival for this procedure! Lieutenant Fokker would skin us alive! And more importantly, **_I _**would never condone such a thing!"

"Y-yes, sir! My apologies, I-I was just wondering aloud!"

"See to it that you don't 'wonder' anymore…hmph…well, we've gone this far. It'd be insulting to Mr. Darby's sacrifice not to utilize this unfortunate turn of events to acquire as much data as possible. Upload the project files and run the update installation. If he takes that well upload the HVT files as well."

> …
> 
> **RECEIVING**
> 
> …
> 
> …
> 
> **DOWNLOADING FILE "SMS/PROJECT/VALKYRIE/VF_0_PHOENIX"…**
> 
> **DOWNLOADING…**
> 
> **DOWNLOADING…**
> 
> **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE**
> 
> **INSTALLING SYSTEMS UPDATE…**
> 
> **INSTALLING "VF-0 COMMAND INTERFACE"…**
> 
> **INSTALLING "CYBERTRONIAN INTERACTION PROGRAM"…**
> 
> **INSTALL COMPLETE**
> 
> **DOWNLOADING FILE "SMS/HIGH_VALUE_TARGET/DECEPTICONS  
DOWNLOADING FILE "SMS/HIGH_VALUE_TARGET/AUTOBOTS**
> 
> **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE**
> 
> **AWAITING COMMAND…**

"Huh. Look at that. He's soaking it up like a sponge."

"Well, I'll be damned. Let's see how far we can take this…activate external connections A12 through X9, route the connection to the simulation servers, and input the command to run the simulation programs sequentially. Run real-time readouts of it too."

"Aye, aye sir."

> **RECEIVING…**
> 
> …
> 
> **EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS ESTABLISHED**
> 
> **NETWORK/SMS_SIMULATION SERVER**
> 
> **RUNNING PROGRAM "SMS/PROJECT/VALKYRIE/VF_0_PHOENIX/SIMULATION MISSION 001"**
> 
> …
> 
> **PROGRAM COMPLETE**
> 
> **RUNNING PROGRAM "SMS/PROJECT/VALKYRIE/VF_0_PHOENIX/SIMULATION MISSION 002"**
> 
> …
> 
> **PROGRAM COMPLETE**
> 
> **RUNNING PROGRAM "SMS/PROJECT/VALKYRIE/VF_0_PHOENIX/SIMULATION MISSION 003"**

"Holy shit…"

"Hah! Wouldn't you know it, the kid pulled through after all!"

"Uh, sir, what do you mean?"

"Look at the Neuro-Capsule readings!"

"…holy-"

"Yep! Way too much data there even for the Neuro-Capsule's operation systems and the uploaded files! His mind has expanded into the capsule's quantum processors! That's why we didn't see it at first!"

"But, then why isn't there any response from him?"

"Well, adapting to an entirely new processing architecture is going to be difficult, I'd normally say impossible, but this _is_ an experimental apparatus we threw together with a witch-doctor brew of cybertronian technology and biology with _human _technology and biology. If I were to guess, he's probably in some kind of lucid dream… or some kind of cybernetic equivalent."

"So…what do we do?"

"Put him through his paces. Run up to Sim Mission 39 and take readings the whole time. I'll go tell General Hayes, and then, well, we'll see."

"He's going to be interested all right, especially after fiasco with M.E.C.H."

"Hm. That's right 'Nemesis Prime'. What a bunch of jokers. Jack here'll knock 'em flat.

> **LOCATION: NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NEVADA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, EARTH  
DATE/TIME: AUGUST 5, 2014 A.D./0702 HOURS**
> 
> **UNIT: VF-0S 'PHOENIX HERALD'**  
MISSION: AID AUTOBOTS IN DESTROYING DECEPTICON FACILITY 66S AKA 'DARKMOUNT'  
PRIMARY TARGETS: 'DARKMOUNT' FUSION CANNONS, DECEPTICON SPACE WARSHIP 'NEMESIS', HVT-D1, HVT-D2, HVT-D3, HVT-D4
> 
> **MISSION LOAD-OUT: 1 X GAE-01X ENERGON PULSE CARBINE/3,200 AHEAD ROUNDS, 12 X SEMRAAM MISSLES, 2 X FAST PACK MODULES/24 X SESRAAM MICRO-MISSILES/2 X SPARE CARBINE MAGAZINES**
> 
> **AWAITING GO ORDER…**


	2. From the Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the destruction of their base by the Decepticons the Autobots were scattered and leaderless. However the appearance of Second-in-command Ultra Magnus have united them once again. Now, they plan to launch an assault on the Decepticon Assault Base Darkmount in an effort to liberate the town that once been the unknowing host of the Autobots. The plan: disable the defenses of the base so that their government liason Agent Fowler can lead a bombing run and completely destroy the base. Little did everyone know a third party was also involved.

**Derelict Decepticon Warship _Harbinger_, Earth  
August 5, 2014 A.D., 10:07 AM**

**UNIT: Autobot Force Omega**  
COMMANDER: Ultra Magnus, Temporary  
MISSION: Disable Darkmount's Fusion Cannons  
PRIMARY TARGET: Darkmount Fusion Cannon Power Core  
MISSION LOAD-OUT: N/A

It was half of a hulk of an ancient, ruined spaceship that the Autobots found themselves using as a base. Starscream's old hideout, back when he was still scrabbling for the scraps the Autobots gave him in return for his information. The knowledge gave Arcee a twisting, acidic feeling of bitterness. They were preparing to begin the mission…in a few moments, Ratchet would open the Groundbridge for Miko, and the Japanese teenager sends a text that would draw away the vast majority of the Vehicons from Darkmount, allowing Arcee and Bumblebee to move in and infiltrate the fortress.

At the same time, the two Wreckers, Wheeljack and Bulkhead, would engage what was left of Darkmount's patrols in the open.

Hopefully, it would be enough…

Enough to let her in…and find Starscream and Megatron…

_For Cliffjumper…_

_For Optimus…_

_For Jack…_

A pattern of buzzes, clicks, and whirs sounded as Bumblebee Patted her on the shoulder, the scout giving her a supporting look.

"Thanks, Bee."

The characteristic warping sound of a Groundbridge portal indicated the start of the mission. Arcee readied herself to fight, running a quick diagnostic of the weapon she took from Ultra Magnus' ship. It was a high-intensity laser, perfectly capable of melting a Vehicon's armor off of its endostructure.

Arcee wondered what it would do to Megatron's face.

* * *

**Jasper Outskirts, Nevada, United States of America  
10:15 AM**

**UNIT: SMS Destroid Platoon 'primal'**

**COMMANDER: First lieutenant [REDACTED], Codename PROPHET**

**MISSION: Provide support to allied Cybertronian assets 'Autobots' and friendly SMS unit 'Phoenix'**

**PRIMARY TARGETS: Decepticon installation 66S 'Darkmount', HVT-D1, HVT-D2, HVT-D3, HVT-D4**

**MISSION LOAD-OUT: 2 x Cheyenne' Medium-Range Squads (2 x 20mm Energon Gatling Guns/250,000 rounds SAPHE, 2 x 5mm Tactical High-Energy Lasers, High-Powered Radar Dome, 2 x 'Spartan' Close-Quarters Combat Squads (Reactive Armor Plating, 2 x High-Frequency Armblades, 2 x Collapsible Ablative Alloy Shields, Secondary Vernier Thruster Packs, 2 x Micro-Missile Launchers/12 x SESRAAM Micro-Missiles)**

It was a cramped, dark place, the cockpit of a Destroid. A claustrophobic would have a foaming fit at just hearing of it, and only the slightest of men and women would feel at all comfortable. One would think that such a small space wouldn't have room for complicated control systems, but they'd be wrong. Dozens of buttons, knob, and switched were mounted on two joysticks at the end of parts intended to strap to the pilot's forearm, serving to control the arms and weapons systems while pedals with latches intended to clamp onto the pilot's boots aided in controlling the motor systems. Memorizing these complex controls to be able to operate merely by feel was a task required of all trainees.

_All-in-all_,_ being a Destroid pilot is like having the worst parts of a tank driver and a jet pilot_. Staff Sergeant 'NOMAD' thought. _Of course, the fact that it's all to pilot a giant robot is a fairly good compensation. _He grinned, flexing his hand around the joystick and watching through the helmet-mounted HUD as the Gatling Guns on his Destroid's arms whirred to life briefly.

A beep and the appearance of a blinking icon on the HUD caught NOMAD's attention.

"Primal Actual to all units. Autobots are beginning operation. Power up from stand-by and prepare to engage Victors, Vipers, and Igors." The order came from Prophet, leader of Primal Platoon and Eagle squad."

NOMAD watched as all around his Destroid, visors lit up green and robots with camouflage patterned-skins of tan, brown and dark grey shades began to move. His own squad, Cougar, were formed up behind him in a wedge.

"Squads Ape and Rhino, I want you in front with your shields at the ready. Intercept Victor fire and accelerate to engage in Close-Quarters. Rat, Cougar, track and eliminate approaching Vipers and Igors, support Ape and Rhino. Eagle, ready to provide long-range support."

"Alright Cougars, remember the Sim battles and we ought to pull through fine."

"Rowr!" Came the chorus. NOMAD had no idea who in his squad decided to make that the unofficial response, but he didn't much.

"Bet I get more kills than you do." 'Psycho', commander of Destroid Spartan Squad Ape, challenged.

"Maybe." NOMAD acknowledged. "But if the Sim data's any indication, Phoenix'll have all of us beat."

"Heh. True."

> **RECEIVING…**
> 
> **GO ORDER RECEIVED**
> 
> **RUNNING PRE-FLIGHT DIAGNOSTIC…**
> 
> …
> 
> …
> 
> **DIAGNOSTIC COMPLETE**
> 
> **PERFORMANCE NOMINAL**
> 
> **ENGAGING REACTION ENGINES**
> 
> **TAXIING TO RUNWAY…**

**Nellis Air Force Base  
10:24 Am**

**UNIT: Alpha Flight, 64th Aggressor Squadron, 57th Advisory Tactics Group**  
COMMANDER: Agent William Fowler, USA Autobot Liaison, Temporary  
MISSION: Destroy Decepticon Installation 66S AKA 'Darkmount'  
PRIMARY TARGETS: Decepticon Installation 66S 'Darkmount'  
MISSION LOAD-OUT: 6 x F-35E Lightning Strike Fighters, (1 x GAU-22/A 4-Barreled 25mm Gatling Gunpod/300 rounds, 2 x AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Missiles)

_Just like being in the army all over again. _Fowler thought to himself. _Hurry up and wait_.

It has been a rush to get authorization to commandeer one of the active flights and his own customized Lightning, throwing all the codeword authentications he needed at the base commander and readying for combat.

Fowler's thoughts were interrupted by the familiar hum of aircraft engines, and he twisted around in his cockpit to see a white jet unlike any he'd seen before taxiing down one of the other runways.

He jammed his finger on the radio.

"Tower! I specifically ordered all aircraft grounded except for Alpha Flight! What is that fighter doing?"

"Sorry Agent Fowler, but that's an SMS unit. We don't have any authority over it."

"SMS? What's a Special Military Service unit doing here?" Fowler growled.

"Don't know. They threw all the usual stuff at us, 'Top Secret', 'that's classified', 'Need-to-know', the usual junk."

"Well, dammit, tell them to stop that fighter! If it-" Fowler was interrupted by the howl of said fighter's engines as it accelerated, roaring the runway. In moments, the jet was in the air and flying away. Fowler had to stop and stare at it.

Why in the world would a human jet have green exhaust?

* * *

**Darkmount, Nevada  
10:34**

**UNIT: Autobot Force Omega, Sub-element 1 (Wheeljack, Bulkhead)**  
COMMANDER: Ultra Magnus, temporary  
MISSION: Disable Darkmount's Fusion Cannons  
PRIMARY TARGET: Darkmount Fusion cannon Power Core  
MISSION LOAD-OUT: 1 x Heavy Ion Rifle, 1 x E-Volt Combat Whip, Body-Integrated Blasters and Melee Weapons, Energon Grenades

"Fire in another hole!" Wheeljack called out lobbing his grenade at the eyesore in front of him. It detonated with a very satisfied 'THOOM' and the Wrecker hid a satisfied grin under his combat mask as he and Bulkhead advanced rapidly.

Moments later, a few dozen Vehicon Seekers descended from Darkmount, blasters blazing and hitting virtually everything but the two Wrecker.

_Right on time. _Bulkhead thought, firing a shot from the Heavy Ion Rifle. The bolt of energy blasted a Seeker to dust, and he let off a few more rounds as Wheeljack out with the E-Volt whip he took from Ultra Magnus' armory, a contained bolt off electricity slicing through three Seekers in a row.

Transforming his free hand into a blaster, Wheeljack joined Bulkhead in shooting down some more of the silver-painted drones.

Right up until a buzzing sound made them pause.

"Scrap," Wheeljack swore, just as the first of many enormous beetle-like bots landed before them.

"Insecticons. Wasn't Ratchet supposed to draw off?" Bulkhead wondered aloud, before blasting the one in front of them. The shot shattered the 'con's shoulder, depriving it of one of its arms.

Its reaction was to issue the same warbling screech they all did, just as twenty more bugs landed around the Autobots.

The two Wreckers looked at each other.

"Bet you can't kill more than I do." Wheeljack Challenged.

"Hah! You're on!" Bulkhead said, shouldering the rifle and taking aim at the closest Insecticon.

Which then exploded.

None of the cybertronians had the time to check their optics before a line of tan-and-brown mechs slammed into the Insecticon ranks. There were twenty-four, each an angular machine with reverse-jointed legs, heavy-looking armor plates, and enormous gold-glowing blades for arms, with short elbow extensions that ad hands on the ends. Two of the robots had red strips on either side of their heads, one of which was wrestling with an Insecticon in front of them. One of the robots' arms was flipped, the hand on the 'elbow' part was gripped around an Insecticon's head. A single stroke with the other arm decapitated it, and the robot held the head for a moment before crushing it.

Then it turned to them. The Wreckers tensed, ready to bring their weapons.

"Hoy, you guys are Bulkhead and Wheeljack, right?" the asked, pointing to each with an Energon-covered blade. After a second, they nodded. "Great! Staff Sergeant PSYCHO, of the New United Nations' Special Military Service at yours."

"Uh…thanks…but what are you guys-"

"Hold that thought." PSYCHO interrupted Bulkhead, turning to the rest of the robots. "Oy! Cover up! We got Vipers coming in on an assault run!" The robots, even those who hadn't yet finished off their opponent, formed up into a line and raised their arms. Panels there folded out, forming a wall of interlinked shields that fended off the blaster bolts of the flight of Seekers passing by. The robots had been kind enough to make their defensive formation around the Wreckers, Shielding them as well.

And then there was the sound of something ripping, and suddenly the air filled with dozens of tiny streaks of light, that tore through the Seekers. Turning, the two Autobots saw yet more robots, these ones without the armor plating and fitted with Gatling Guns instead of blades, firing on the Seekers. Now, the two 'bots noticed that these machines were rolling forward, and close inspection revealed wheels built their feet.

There were twenty-four more of the Gatling-equipped robots, and just behind them were twelve more that had each had what looked like a tank cannon on their shoulder.

"Huh. Humans?" Wheeljack directed his question at PSYCHO.

"Been so all my life, although the wife would disagree with you."

"What are these things then?"

"Cool."

"Heh. Won't argue there."

* * *

**Darkmount Airspace, Nevada  
10:44**

**UNIT: Autobot Force Omega, Sub-Element 2 (Ultra Magnus)**  
COMMANDER: Ultra Magnus, Temporary  
MISSION: Disable Darkmount's Fusion Cannons  
PRIMARY TARGET: Darkmount Fusion Cannons Power Core  
MISSION LOAD-OUT: 1 x Assault Transport, 1 x Nucleon Battle Rifle, Integrated Blasters and Melee Weapons

"Fowler, what is the meaning of this?" Ultra Magnus demanded, having opened a commlink to Fowler's fighter.

"Of what?" the agent's reply came back.

"There are human forces assaulting Darkmount! There's a platoon of robots attacking the fortress!"

"Say what? Robots?"

"Yes, robots. They say they're of the New United Nations' Special Military Service."

What in the name of Benjamin Franklin's kite is going on here? I just had an SMS fighter take off from this base!"

Shaking his head, Ultra Magnus switched off the link.

_I'll have to accelerate the plan._ He decided. _Hopefully, the human forces can fend off the Predacon when it's deployed._

Banking his ship, the Autobot Commander landed it on one of the many superfluous-looking spikes extending out from Darkmount, taking his battle rifle and hopping out the hatch before the ship flew away on autopilot. Charging down the spike, Ultra Magnus leaped for a window the scans suggested led to the fortress' power core, blasting the glass out before landing inside the chamber.

Around, Vehicons manned several stations that presumably controlled the Fusion Cannons. He took them down methodically, single shots taking out a single Vehicon until only he lived within the room.

Giving the room a once-over to make sure, Ultra Magnus took aim at the power core-

Only for an energy bolt to blast his rifle out of his hands, and Megatron to land with a floor-shaking impact.

"Ultra Magnus." The warlord greeted. "Allow me to venture: you were attempting to disarm my Fusion Cannons, by disabling their power core."

"Indeed Megatron." The Commander activated his built-in blasters. "And you are standing in my way." Megatron just laughed.

"You think _you_ can defeat _me_? I was fighting in the pits of Kaon before you were sparked! As for the others, you think we were unaware of the scout and the femme, slinking through my fortress? Or do you think that the Wreckers and those charming little human machines will defeat my forces?" Megatron gestured out the window, where swarms of Insecticons and Seekers were approaching the small force.

> **CONTACTS DETECTED**
> 
> **MATCHING ENERGON/THERMAL SIGNATURES TO DATABASE…**
> 
> …
> 
> **RESULTS/FRIENDLY: 60 X SMS DESTROID MODULAR COMBAT ROBOTS  
2 X CYBERTRONIAN ALLIES 'AUTOBOTS'**
> 
> **RESULTS/ENEMY: 27 X AERIAL VEHICON TROOPS, CODE 'VIPER'  
38 X INSECTICON HEAVY ASSAULT TROOPS, CODE 'IGOR'**
> 
> **DESIGNATING TARGETS…**
> 
> …
> 
> **TARGETS DESIGNATED**
> 
> **LAUNCHING ORDNANCE**

Both Megatron and Ultra Magnus were shocked when an enormous swarm of missiles appeared, drawing sweeping arcs of contrails through the air as they homed in on targets. It seemed like there were a dozen missiles for every Decepticon in the air, and even when a Seeker or an Insecticon avoided one missile, three more locked in on them and struck, creating a panoply of explosions across the clouded sky.

A mere moment after, the apparent launcher of the missiles appeared.

It was a white jet fighter, with red stripes along the main body and edging the wings. The wings were variable form, capable of sweeping back and forth depending on the lift, and the engines had movable nozzles that could vector the thrust in different directions. Notably, unlike the other human aircraft the two Cybertronians had seen, this one had a smooth metal canopy instead of glass.

"Impressive." Megatron acknowledged. Then he opened up a commlink to the nemesis.

"Deploy the Predacon."

A roar sounded, menacing in its tone and threating to all enemies of the Decepticons.

* * *

Historical records

New United Nations

Formed after the end of the Unification War, the New United Nations is essentially a more centralized and authoritative form of the Twentieth-Century United Nations with more authority over the component countries. Many other nations refused these reforms. The resulting split effectively shattered the UN, and escalating disputes and disagreements led to the outbreak of the war.

While long and destructive, the Unification War ended with the victory of the UN Forces and the defeat and dissolution of the Anti-UN Alliance. The aftermath of the war saw the creation of the New United Nations, which acted quickly in its post-war agenda, reconstructed damaged cities and overseeing humanitarian efforts with military forces and assets seconded by its member nations. Much effort was directed in reparations to former Anti-UN Alliance states, giving the NUN a great public relations boost in those countries.

The New United Nations is a powerful supranational union, with a blanket authority in many areas, and is able to pass and enforce laws that all of its member states must adhere to. These laws are determined by the NUN Parliamentary Assembly and are enforced by the NUN Security Council, which commands a Peacekeeper force that is composed of units seconded to the NUN by member nations, including US carrier battle groups, UK Army regiments, and Russian air wings.

For the most part, though, each nation retains its sovereignty, maintaining their own economics.


	3. Old Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the combined Human and Autobot ground forces hold the line, a dual rages in the sky. A dual between machine and beast. A dual that'll mark a defining rivalry.

> **NEW CONTACT DETECTED.**
> 
> **MATCHING AUDIO SIGNATURE TO DATABASE**
> 
> …
> 
> **RESULTS/ENEMY: HVT-D4 (PREDACON)**
> 
> **REQUESTING OBJECTIVE UPDATE**
> 
> …

**Atlantic sea. Off of the coast of California.**  
August 5. 2014 A.D. 1045 hours  
Bridge to the Aircraft Carrier: Samuels code-named 'Phoenix Nest'

The bridge of the carrier was nothing special, you'd find it in any other carrier. its purpose is what makes it special. It's the command center for all operations concerning the VF-0 fighter aka Phoenix. Plus, the fact everyone but the captain was female. Lisa Hayes had the pleasure of meeting phoenix once. He was pleasant to talk to even if was via direct messages. He seemed like any young airforce pilot ready to take on the world but there was a part of him that seemed lost. She knew that Phoenix was human and had lost his memories during the transfer. That's what hits Lisa in the heart. He kept saying that he needs to protect someone, someone important to him, but he couldn't remember.

Lisa Hayes is a beautiful woman, in her early twenties. Her brown hair was long and curled at the ends. Her green eyes only added onto her beauty, and her soft light skin made it worse. She wore the standard white bridge officer's uniform. Even if it was standard most of the men on the carrier say it only accentuates her curves. Much to her disdain.

A message on the screen of the station brought her out of her musings. It was the objective update from Phoenix.

"Captain." Her voice was youthful and pleasant to listen to. “There’s a message from Phoenix.”

"Yes, Lisa. What is it?" came the elder gentleman's rough voice.

Lisa looked to her captain for several months now.

Captain Gloval was a seasoned veteran. The captain was tall, tall enough to hit his head on the door frame every time he enters or exits the bridge. His hair was black as one could tell from the mustache on his lip. His skin had a sight tan to it. His dark blue eyes held years of combat experience and wisdom. If one could see them, from how low he has his captain's hat, which was part of the dark blue uniform. The captain was also rather informal when came to ranks below him, usually treating them like friends.

"Captain. Phoenix has been able to confirm the presence of the Predacon and is requesting an objective update. I think he wants to fight it."

"Are you sure?" Came the feminine voice from beside Lisa.

This woman is Claudia Grant. She was a dark-skinned beauty, of similar age to Lisa. She was a little taller than Lisa. Claudia also had slightly darker hair. She was the communications officer of the bridge, so her uniform was green. She was just as womanly as Lisa but garnered less attention. Mainly, because of the angry lieutenant that was her boyfriend and would throttle them alive if he saw.

"He usually capable of making these decisions on his own," Claudia stated what was in Lisa's mind.

"I thought the same thing."

“It's his first time on a true battlefield.” The captain stated as he folded his hands together and placed his forehead against them. While it may have been only a few months Lisa knew that he was thinking.

He looked up from his hands. "Ask him if it's possible to complete assigned tasks without engaging."

Lisa nodded. "VTF-0. Run a simulation of completing assigned tasks without engaging. Over."

> **ORDERS RECEIVED AND UNDERSTOOD.**
> 
> **PROCESSING SIMULATION.**
> 
> **…**
> 
> **RESULTS: TWO POSSIBILITIES**
> 
> **RESULT ONE – HVT-D4 WILL ENGAGE AND HENDER MISSION TASKS.**
> 
> **RESULT TWO – HVT-D1 WILL ENGAGE ALLIED FORCES RESULTING IN HEAVY CASUALTIES.**
> 
> **RECOMMENDED ACTION WOULD BE TO ENGAGE HVT-D1 WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF DISTRACTING THE TARGET OR ELIMINATING THE TARGET**

Lisa shook her head. "Phoenix thinks it’s a bad idea. The Predacon would either engage him or the ground forces. He advises that the best approach would for him to engage the Predacon."

Gloval laughed silently. "Of course, he does. " The captain’s voice turned serious. "his new orders are to engage the Predacon, stall him for as long as he can but he believes he can defeat it then he should. After, he is to resume the assault on Darkmount."

"Yes, sir." Lisa turned back to the com. "VT-0. Updates to mission objectives. The primary objective has been reduced to secondary. New primary objectives: engage and neutralize HVT-D4. Then head to depot epsilon-five for resupply. Confirm orders. Over."

> **ORDERS RECEIVED AND UNDERSTOOD.**
> 
> **OBJECTIVE 'AID AUTOBOTS IN DESTROYING DARK MOUNT' HAS REDUCED STATUS TO SECONDARY OBJECTIVE.**
> 
> **NEW PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:**  
** -ENGAGE HVT-D4 AND NEUTRALIZE TARGET.**
> 
> **…**
> 
> **TARGET SIGHTED. ENGAGING.**
> 
> **ACTIVATING EDI PROGRAM**

**Darkmount, Nevada  
August 5, 2014, A.D. 1052 hours**

Bulkhead was grateful for the help the SMS guys were giving them, and the timing couldn't be better. A swarm of Insecticons came in ready to ravage the Autobots. If it weren't for the presence of the Destroids, as he heard one of the pilots call the robots, they would all be scrap. Despite how simple the machines were, they were extremely effective against the bug-like Decepticons. The bladed Destroids would hold back the ground forces while the gun-mounted Destroids would focus on the air forces.

Being the Wreckers they were, the two ally cybertronians joined in on the melee. Bulkhead struck a 'con in the stomach with his mace. As it keeled over from the hit, he pointed the Heavy Ion Cannon at its head and blew it off. So far. So, good. He was still worried about the Predacon he heard earlier. Like it was a jinx, the bestial 'con flew down from the top of Darkmount. Inside Bulkhead was panicking, they couldn't hold up against the monster last time they fought. This time they had a better chance with the human forces but still.

_“We're not gonna be just apart of their game”_

_“We're not gonna be just the victims”_

_“They're taking our dreams and they tear them apart”_

_“Til every one's the same”_

_“I've got no place to go, I've got nowhere to run”_

_“They love to watch me fall, they think they know it all”_

Rock music started blaring over the coms and the Destroid pilots all let out a cheer.

"Keep jamming to those tunes, Phoenix." A squad captain, 'NOMAD' bulkhead believes, shouted.

That white with red stripes jet flew overhead at that point. Heading straight for the predacon. Bulkhead couldn't help but think that the pilot was nuts. However, if that jet could hold off the predacon until they finished with the Insecticons. They might have a chance. Speaking of 'cons, one made dash for bulk. He brought his mace down on its head killing it instantly.

**Darkmount Airspace, Nevada  
August 5, 2014, A.D. 1054 hours.**

Phoenix flew towards the predacon. He was glad to fight it, that way his allies won't have to engage it and possibly die. He entered optimal combat speed. He lined up the Predacon with his Energon pulse carbine or the slang term it's known by “the Gunpod”. He was saving his missiles in hopes that he could take down the target before him and Darkmount before going to resupply. He had hopes of lessening casualties. Already three 'Spartan' Destroids were down.

The predacon roared a challenge at him. To which Phoenix responds with a burst fire from the gun pod. The Energon lasers hit but the predacon ignored it and continued its charge. Switching to full auto, he fired at the 'con. Round after round hit it but it didn't seem to care. As the two aerial combatants neared each other, Phoenix stopped his assault while the predacon started his. Flames spewed from the dragon's mouth, ready to melt the armor of the jet.

Phoenix entered a corkscrew maneuver around the flames and HVT-D4. The predacon halted his breath attack to snap its jaws at the veritech fighter. The bite barely as missed as VTF-0 straightened out behind the cybertronian. He rotated ninety degrees, decelerated and began turning right as sharp as he could without stalling. The only responses the Predacon had for the fighter was to either turn right also and try to meet him head-on or turn left and hope it could turn sharper so it could turn around and get behind him.

The predacon turned left.

The two turned in opposing circles till they came head to head. Seeing that his gunpod didn’t seem to do much damage, Phoenix had no choice but to launch a salvo of four SESMRAAM missiles as he shot short bursts form the Energon carbine. The short bursts allow him not to accidentally detonate his own missiles. Once again, the predacon ignored the bursts but he shot his fire blast and took out the missiles. Phoenix surprised at the display of intelligence, it wasn't as stupid as the field reports described. It understood the danger of the missiles and had created a simple method of countering them.

However, it may be smart, it's only smart in animal terms like an ape, basic problem-solving. Phoenix was smart in human terms. He can plan. He also had advantages that most of the Predacon’s previous opponents didn’t have. Using the explosion as a smokescreen, he hit the afterburners and once he felt he had enough speed that he engaged battloid mode.

The twin rudders folded over each other, then a hidden assembly they sat on swung upwards till the rudders were between the assembly and the plane. Inside the assembly was a set of booster thrusters meant for stabilization. The main engines cut out and slid forward on the sides of the fuselage till the intakes were next to the nose. Then they spun till they pointed the opposite way, as a result, they resembled a set of legs with the engines’ nozzle spreading out to form feet. The wings rotated backward till they touched. From underneath the plane arms slid out to either side of the body with the gun pod underneath the forearm of the left arms. Then the plane seemingly folded in half where the arms were placed to form a torso. With the cockpit and surrounding area to form the chest and stomach and the wings and the boosters forming the back.

A head slid out the top of the torso. It was humanoid, but he had no mouth, just a smooth rounded faceplate. Instead of eyes, there was a simple green visor. Where his ears should be if he was human were twin, double barrel, laser turrets.

This transformation had taken only a few seconds and directional thrusters maneuvered him so that he was facing forward the entire time. The dragon-shaped cybertronian came out of the smoke just in time to see the new form. Surprised, he spread his wings out in an attempt to stop and disengage from his opponent. However, phoenix had way too much momentum for that. Phoenix spun and out his right forearm, behind his wrist, and above his hand a blade slid out. It was as wide as his hand and as long as his forearm. Phoenix was aiming for the Predacon’s head but it’s attempt to disengage led it to turn to the side and that only resulted in a deep cut to its stomach.

It howled in pain and rage as it temporarily lost control. Spinning wildly for a moment before flapping its wings in a precise manner, regaining its bearings. It turned and began chasing down its prey. Phoenix returned to his fighter mode flying away from the opponent but keeping his airspeed low as to avoid discouraging the bestial cybertronian as he came up with a new plan.

He had lost the ace up his sleeve when he revealed his battloid form. It wouldn’t surprise the Decepticon again. As a matter of fact it would do it’s best to avoid future head to head matches. It would change it’s attack angles from now on to be more unpredictable which would make maneuvering difficult as it had a better turn radius than he did. thus the majority of combat maneuvers that he knows would only end up with it having the optimal attack angle. It was the same case with him using the battloid and guardian modes with the disadvantage of putting him in the range of the fire breath. That only left him the option of attempting more unorthodox and dangerous maneuvers. Stunts more like.

Remembering that the Predacon did not act well to surprises Phoenix knew he had to take a gamble. Decelerating sharply, expanding his drag flaps to max-width as well as angling his vectored thrust engines downward he pulled back into an extremely tight roll barely wider than the length of the fighter. The Predacon passed right underneath him right as he hit the top of the loop then he stalled causing him to drop like a rock. The Predacon performed it’s own loop and dived after the fighter.

It wasn’t hard to break the stall in this straight dive he was doing but the next part would be. The plan was to get the Predacon to crush. He was at two thousand feet now, he would have to decrease velocity at one thousand feet, and then he would have to pull up at two hundred feet. It was gonna be close and that's what he was hoping for.

Reaching one thousand he shifted into 'guardian' mode. The booster engines came out like with the battloid form. Unlike with the battloid, the engines didn’t slide forward before snapping out into the legs pointed at the ground. The arms came out like last time but the gunpod was in the right hand this time ready to be used. Overall it looks like the fuselage and wings of a fighter plane stuck on "chicken walker" legs with two arms, and a gun. The legs shot exhaust downward, slowing down the fighter. Phoenix knew that it wouldn't be enough. As a last-ditch effort to slow down he engaged the emergency deceleration parachute. It helped some but not enough, cords snapped the chute flying off.

This landing was going to be pretty interesting.

He hit two hundred feet. Pulling up sharply, the veritech’s legs scraped against the ground as he struggled to get his downward momentum into forward momentum. In order to stop his high speeds, he switched back to the battloid configuration. He braced his feet against the ground and leaned against inertia and almost toppling over. To save himself the crash he slammed his free hand into the ground balancing himself and creating more friction to stop. To anyone else, who's observing it looked fricking awesome, but in reality he saved himself from a dangerous move. His head looked up to see the Predacon's progress.

The Predacon didn't have as much luck as phoenix did. A side bonus to the parachute flew into the Predacon’s face blinding it. It shot out its flaming breath burning the chute only to be met with the incoming ground. The dragon flapped its wings frantically trying to stop, but all it managed was some forward motion. It crashed into the ground at high speed. The predacon rolled and tumbled, and surprisingly got up all fours sliding. Still hadn't stopped it’s forward movement yet, and when it looked like he would, his legs folded beneath him. He rolled several more times before coming to a stop in a cloud of dust which acted as a smokescreen between Phoenix and the predacon.

Phoenix stood up Gunpod at the ready if the dragon pulled anything off. As expected, the dragon flew at him like a bullet out of a gun. Phoenix squeezed off a few rounds before it collided with him. They fell back with Phoenix landing on his back with the Predacon pinning the veritech's arms. The animalistic Decepticon roared in triumph and charged its fireball. If Phoenix could smirk, he would.

He placed his foot against the 'cons stomach and maxed out the engines. The Predacon roared in agony as its armor turned red hot from the exhaust. At the same time, Phoenix shoots off like a rocket dragging the Predacon with him. Over time, he gets an arm free, he deploys a missile rack, grabbing one before retracting the rack. He stabs the missile into heated area of the Predacon. The projectile weapon sliding through the liquid-like area.

Placing both feet against the Predacon, Phoenix kicked him off. The 'con went flying, while the battloid cut the engines and backflipped to his feet, stopping. He switched the carbine to single shot and took aim. The Predacon had taken flight once more and was diving at Phoenix. The veritech fighter aimed his Gunpod for the missile and pulled the trigger.

Everything seemed to slow down. The gun sounded out as the muzzle flashed green. The green AHEAD round flew across the field. Phoenix could see the horror in the Predacon's eyes as the bullet flew past its chin. The round made contact with the missile and nothing happened at first. Phoenix almost panicked, then the missile exploded and the Predacon disappeared in flame and smoke.

Phoenix turned and headed towards Darkmount that was so far away now. He knew that the Predacon wasn't joining the fight again. If it had survived the missile he knew that the damage it had received would put it out of the fight. Shifting into his fighter form he took off for Darkmount. He updated the situation to the 'Phoenix's Nest'.

> **MISSION UPDATE.**
> 
> **FIRST PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: ENGAGE HVT-D4 AND NEUTRALIZE TARGET.**  
** STATUS: COMPLETED.**
> 
> **AMMO COUNT:**  
** -100 X AHEAD ROUNDS IN PRIMARY CLIP FOR CARBINE. ADDITIONAL CLIPS AVAILABLE.**  
** -8 X SEMRAAM MISSILES**  
** -19 X SESRAAM MISSILES**  
** -2 X FAST PACK MODULES**
> 
> **READY TO RETURN TO PRIMARY OBJECTIVE**

**Bridge of the Samuels  
August 5, 2014, A.D. 1114 hours.**

Lisa gasped. “He actually beat it.”

“What was that, Lisa?” Claudia asked.

“Phoenix took down the Predacon,” Lisa stated shocked by the event. “With only a fraction of his gunpod ammo and a few missiles.”

“That’s amazing,” A young voice piped up.

It belonged to Samantha (Sammie) Milliome, the internal communications officer and youngest of the bridge crew. Fresh out of the academy, she looked younger than what should be allowed into the military. She had ginger hair that went down to her shoulder blades and she had soft blue eyes that betrayed her youthful innocence.

“You’re telling me.” Replied Lisa.

A faint smile of pride formed of the captain’s face. “I assume that he wants to return to the original objective.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gloval nodded. “Contact Lieutenants Fokker, and Hunter. Have them rendezvous with phoenix and resume the assault on Darkmount.

> **ORDERS RECEIVED AND UNDERSTOOD.**
> 
> **NEW PRIMARY OBJECTIVE**  
** \- RENDEZVOUS WITH SKULL LEADER AND VERMILLION LEADER**
> 
> **OBJECTIVE 'AID AUTOBOTS IN DESTROYING DARK MOUNT' HAS ASCENDED TO PRIMARY OBJECTIVE.**
> 
> **ENTERING STANDBY MODE**
> 
> **…**

**Darkmount Airspace, Nevada  
August 5, 2014, A.D. 1115 hours**

The white jet circled the edges of the border of Darkmount while he waited. Phoenix hated waiting, every second someone dies, and he considered every member of the SMS to be his partners.

'And partners always have each other’s backs’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs:  
Me against the world- Simple Plan


	4. A Flicker of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allies new and old join the fight.  
Mean while a revelation comes to Phoenix, one he can't ignore

**In the mountains outside Darkmount**   
**August 5, 2014, 1115 hours**

Two men sat in the dirt, watching as smoke plumes rose from the Predacon's final moments. The men had two very different ages. One was well into his twenties, he had blond wild hair and had mischief filled blue eyes. He wore a black and grey flight suit and beside him sat an identically colored helmet. He's Lieutenant Roy Fokker of Skull squadron, double ace of the SMS and the man beside him is his adopted brother Lieutenant Rick Hunter of the Vermillion Squadron. Rick was barely leaving his teens and he had black hair with light blue eyes. He wore a red and white flight suit with his helmet sitting next to his brother's. The two of them were here with their F-35E's equipped with experimental SHADOW stealth systems that can hide from Cybertronian sensors.

"There he goes again, showing off. Do you think he'll leave us any?" Rick asked putting down his binoculars.

Roy looked through his set of binoculars. "I highly doubt it. He hates people getting hurt so he tries to shoulder the entire battle. Sound like anyone we know." Roy peeked out from under his binoculars and looked pointedly at Rick.

The younger pilot puffed his cheeks out. "Yeah, Yeah."

The coms inside their helmets crackled and the brothers put on their respective helmets.

“Skull leader and Vermillion leader, this is Phoenix nest. Come in. Over.” Lisa called over the radio.

“We're here.” Roy answered for rick.

“You are to rendezvous with VF-0 and proceed with the destruction of Darkmount. Over.”

“Alright, tell him we're on our way.”

“Understood. Watch each other’s backs out there.” She advised.

“Roger.” the siblings replied simultaneously.

They got up and headed for their Synthetic Energon powered and weaponized jets. Roy's fighter was decorated in a black and yellow design with a skull-and-crossbones on the rudder. Rick's design was similar to that of Phoenix's white with red stripes on the main body and wings. They entered the cockpits of their respective fighter. Priming their engines, they turned on the SHADOW devices and entered VTOL mode to rise above the mountains. Once they reached optimal flight altitude, they returned to normal flight mode and took off in Phoenix's direction.

Roy contacted Rick. “Well, little brother. Looks we'll get to find out if he left some for us.”

Rick answered back. “Guess so.”

“Uploading the rendezvous point to him, now.” The Ace notified.

> **RECEIVING DATA FROM SMS PILOT LIEUTENANT ROY FOKKER**
> 
> **…**
> 
> **RECEIVED**
> 
> **LOCATION GAMMA-8 SET AS RENDEZVOUS POINT**
> 
> **ALTERING COURSE…**

**Darkmount, Nevada**   
**August 5, 2014, 1122 hours**

Megatron dragged Ultra Magnus by his foot to the throne room. The current Autobot leader groaned as his head scraped against the floor. Megatron wanted to tear the 'bot's spark out, but the Decepticon leader had yet to see Optimus. Megatron planned to interrogate him and if necessary torture him until he knew where Optimus is. The only wrenches that were currently in his plan were the femme and the scout still uncaptured, and the human forces.

The vehicons had been giving him constant coverage of the battles and both were not in his favor. The insecticons were being torn apart by the ground forces and all the human loss totaled fifteen units. Then predacon was defeated by the white jet that can transform. The Fusion Cannons on his beloved base could not be fired at this range, a fault the needs to be solved. A good way to end this fight is to throw both the Autobot leaders at their feet and watch them despair. Megatron would then unleash the full might of the Decepticons. He entered the throne room.

Starscream bowed. "Welcome back, my lord."

The Decepticon pulled Ultra Magnus to the center of the throne and tossed him forward. "Now where is Optimus Prime?"

The blue cybertronian stayed silent.

Megatron growled. "I won't ask again. Where is Optimus?"

Ultra Magnus pushed himself up. "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

Megatron extended his internal blade, time for mind games. "Take him to Shockwave and torture what we need from him, then take his friends and throw them in the pit."

Starscream instead walked forward. "What is that?"

Megatron looked. In the distance the was a silhouette in the sun. "The Predacon?"

Starscream backed away. "Not beasty, enough."

As the silhouette grew closer, horror grew on Megatron and Starscream only confirmed it.

"I recognize that paint scheme."

Now everyone could see it or him fully. It was Optimus Prime. He had gained armor making him bulkier and taller than before and on his back was an advanced flight system. No wonder Prime had been missing from this fight, he had been getting upgrades. Optimus flew in and landed with ease. Without stopping his forward motion, Optimus punched Megatron in his faceplate then turned to strike with his opposing elbow before punching him again in his chest. Megatron flew back and crashed in his throne reducing it to rubble.

The vehicons in the room charged Optimus. Optimus responded by reaching behind his back and pulling a Gatling gun out and fired a spray that cut down the Vehicons like a scythe through grain. Starscream had watched all of this and slowly backed up hoping to stealthily escape. Except he backed right into Ultra Magnus. The second-in-command whimpered as the 'bot brought his arm back and delivered a right uppercut. Starscream went flying into the stairs leading to the throne, unconscious.

Optimus turned to face the 'bot who had replaced him for a short time. "Commander?"

Ultra Magnus gave him the once-over. "Sir, you're looking...robust. It is paramount that we disable the fusion cannons below."

Prime nodded. "Understood."

The revived leader turned and jumped off the building, flying towards the cannon.

Ultra Magnus raised everyone on the coms. "All units. Optimus Prime has returned."

He could hear everyone cheer. Today would be theirs."

> **NEW ENERGON SIGNATURE**
> 
> **SCANNING…**
> 
> **...**
> 
> **ERROR**
> 
> **NO MATCH IN DATABASE**
> 
> **SWITCHING TO VISUAL**
> 
> **SCANNING…**
> 
> **…**
> 
> **ERROR NO MATCH**
> 
> **CONTACTING LIEUTENANT ROY FOKKER…**

**Darkmount Airspace**   
**August 5, 2014, 1125 hours**

'Optimus sure knows how to make an entrance.' Roy commented to him self.

The two pilots had just met up with the VF-0 and had altered their course to Darkmount. Thanks to the zoom ability on their battle-cams all three SMS pilots saw Optimus's grand entrance. A beeping from his console brought his attention to a message from Phoenix.

Phoenix: I can't match the new signature to the database. Need clarification.

Roy sighed and opened a com-channel. “Both you and I know who that is.”

Phoenix: Doesn't match any entries in the database.

The human pilot pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, Phoenix. Don't depend so much on the database. Remember, you're not just a machine. You're better than that.”

Phoenix: You're right. Thanks, Roy.

He just shrugged. “No problem. Now, what's the plan?”

Phoenix: The objective hasn't changed just some factors. We'll give Optimus cover while he tears the 'cons a new one.

“Now that's the spirit. Rick did ya get that?” Fokker commented

Rick enthusiastically replied. “You bet. Let's show these guys whose planet this is.”

All three jets hit the afterburners and charged Darkmount.

**Darkmount Airspace**   
**August 5, 2014, 1127 hours**

Optimus fired a spray of Energon at Megatron who chased him around Darkmount. The Decepticon leader dodged the bolts and fired three sets of blaster bolts that Optimus spiraled to avoid. The roar of jets brought the Autobot's attention forward as Starscream followed by a large group of vehicons circled around the tower the opposite way. With Optimus in the middle, both Megatron and Starscream's group fired at him, forcing him into maneuvers wildly to avoid getting hit. The Autobot leader turned away from darkmount to avoid the pincer movement.

The Decepticons congealed into a single group and pursued while laying down heavy suppressive fire. The newly airborne cybertronian attempted to return to Darkmount but it seems Megatron's priority is not killing Prime but keeping him far from the Decepticon base. Near Darkmount Optimus could see that Shockwave was charging towards Bulkhead and Wheeljack. The battle had taken a turn for the worst.

Hope was rekindled as three human jets hurtled over Optimus's head and scattered the opposers. Optimus watched as three human jets downed vehicon after vehicon and noticed that Megatron had taken a particular liking to one. Optimus turned around and joined the fight. A black and yellow fighter joined Optimus and the pilot saluted the prime, which he returned.

“So, you're the famous Optimus prime.” His voice had a hint of humor and respect.

Optimus nodded. “Indeed, I am. However, I must ask who are you and why are you here? No human forces should be in the area as far as I was notified.”

“Lieutenant Roy Fokker of the SMS. We're here thanks to him, Phoenix.” Roy gestured to the outlier in the human forces.

Phoenix- to Optimus' surprise- had the ability to transform between three forms. A fighter jet resembling the humans' F-14, a humanoid form and a form where it's a combination. The pilot was an ace by the way he used all three forms to his advantage, cutting swaths in the Decepticon seekers while keeping Megatron on the defensive. Despite how good these pilots and machines below are, there's only one way this fight's going to be won.

Optimus diverted his attention back to Roy. “Lieutenant Roy. The Fusion Cannons must be destroyed or all of this will be for naught.”

Roy nodded. “Alright guys, huddle up.”

Phoenix and the other white/red fighter firing flares that detonated into smoke bombs broke away from the fight and rejoined Roy.

“Here's how things are:” The Lieutenant commanded. “Megatron, Starscream, and a group of seekers stand between Prime and those Fusion Cannons. Phoenix, it seems that Megatron has some beef with you, distract him. I'll taunt Starscream and his lackeys. Rick, Shockwave's got the upper hand on Primal Unit with those Insecticons, get rid of the bugs and that should do the trick.”

“Yes, sir!” Rick replied as he dove while launching a volley of missiles.

Phoenix pulled ahead and with his own volley, he scattered the 'cons once again.

“Optimus, follow me and we'll punch through.” Roy suggested.

“Understood.” Optimus nodded.

Optimus and Roy charged.

“Gentleman. Let's plow the road.” Shouted Roy as the two of them opened up their machine guns.

A wall of Energon bolts slammed into enemy lines and any seeker unfortunate enough to be caught in it was torn to shreds. For good measure and insurance, Roy fired several volleys of missiles guaranteeing the path would be clear. Both human and Autobot made it through unharmed, halting their relentless assault. Roy peeled off to engage Starscream as planned. Optimus reached Darkmount and circled it until he pulled up in front of the barrel to the superweapon.

"Today, their reign of tyranny ends." Optimus declared as he fired his Gatling gun down the shaft and into the power source.

A satisfying explosion was heard, and Optimus pulled away when flames spewed out.

**Derelict Decepticon Warship Harbinger, Earth**   
**August 5, 2014, 1145 hours**

Ratchet watched with secret joy as Raf and Miko cheered at the presence of their beloved leader. Today was a good day, Darkmount was well on its way to destruction, and Megatron was soon to be defeated. The Predacon was out of the battle as far as he was concerned, hopefully for good. If it wasn't for the human forces everyone might've been captured by now. Whoever these SMS guys are, the Autobots owe them, their lives. The only way today could get any better was if jack was here.

Arcee's voice came in on the coms. “We're still inside! We're pinned down by 'cons and they don't intend on letting us out. We need a Groundbridge.”

Without missing a beat, Rachet flipped the switch to open one but it didn't. Raf and Miko watched in horror as warning symbols flashed all over the screen, Stating that the Decepticons Groundbridge jammer was still up, unfortunately.

Ratchet shook his head. “I can't. Their jammer is still online, somehow. Unless you can shut it down, you're stranded.”

As if fate wanted this day to turn into a nightmare another com-channel came to life. “This is William Fowler. We are approaching the combat zone. ETA three minutes to target.”

Ratchet scrambled over the controls as he found every frequency allied, civilian or military and shouted over the coms. “Don't destroy Darkmount! Arcee and Bumblebee are still inside! They can't 'bridge out. Someone, anyone, get them OUT!” To make sure the point gets across Ratchet broadcasts Arcee's message

"Do you think Optimus will be able to make it?" Raf asked worriedly.

Ratchet comforted the boy. "Of course, he can. He's Optimus."

Jack's death caused some changes in the team and because of that, in his name, the medic will not let Arcee die.

> **ANALYZING INCOMING AUDIO**
> 
> **…**
> 
> **ANALYZED**
> 
> **RESULTS/FRIENDLY: 1 X CYBERTRONIAN ALLY(AUTOBOT)**
> 
> **DESIGNATION: ARCEE**
> 
> **…**
> 
> **AR...ARCEE**
> 
> _He looked at the beautiful cybertronian that sat beside him on the ledge. They just saved the world - again - and wanted to enjoy the sunset._
> 
> _Arcee looked down at him and smiled. "Partners?"_
> 
> _He nodded. "Partners."_
> 
> **ERROR CODE: MNEMOSYNE**

**Bridge of the Samuels  
August 5, 2014, 1146 hours**

Lisa’s eyes widen in shock as a warning code flashed her monitor "We have a Code Mnemosyne!"

Varying forms of surprise and shock came from the bridge crew, but the captain stood and walked over to Lisa’s station and observed her monitor. “How much of his memory has returned?” He calmly asked.

Lisa shook her head as she looked at the lines of code that flickered across her screen. She was actually very decent computer code but the code that made Phoenix work was quite literally lightyears beyond what she knew. However, she knew enough to know something was wrong. "I can’t really tell. I think it was a relatively small memory, but whatever it was must’ve been important. It created errors in his coding, started fracturing his neural pathways. It’s not good.”

“What triggered it?”

“I think it was Arcee’s ca-” Lisa was cut off as another alert popped up. “He’s disengaged from Megatron and is headed for Darkmount!”

Gloval leaned and turned on the Com-mike. “Phoenix, this is Captain Gloval. I order you: resume engaging HVT-D1.”

The radio speaker at Lisa’s station crackled.

Lisa stated, “Course hasn’t changed.”

“Did you hear me?” The captain repeated. “Engage Megatron!”

The speaker crackled again with static and hissing. Lisa watched Phoenix’s code and neural pathways a shift and change, rewriting itself and making new ones. “He is two thousand feet to Darkmount and closing.”

“I gave you a direct order!”

The speaker crackled again but something came through this time. “No. I have to help her.”

It was a voice belonging to a young man barely past eighteen. It was distorted and hesitant like those voices of ghost caught on tape. Despite this Gloval recognized it even if the rest of his crew hadn’t. The last time he had heard it belonged to a boy who had lost all his options, and all will to go on. A boy who had opted for an experiment that would end his suffering one way or another.

“Phoenix?” Lisa whispered in absolute astonishment as the bridge crew made their statements of disbelief.

“I have to help Arcee,” Phoenix said again, voice coming through much clearer and steadier. “I. Need. To.”

“Skull Leader to Phoenix.” Roy radioed in. “Megatron is hot on your tail! He’s gonna have a shot in a few seconds! Break now! Samuels, what the hell is going on?!”

Gloval hesitated. Lang had told him that Phoenix regaining his voice would be a major milestone in him becoming Jack again. That following through on the circumstances made it return would make strides from him to regain his memories. Gloval wanted nothing more than to let Phoenix go but they need him to keep Megatron occupied while the mission was finished. If Megatron were to divert his attention to the incoming bombers the mission would end in failure. If Phoenix got shot down because they had to force a retreat would be worse as they would lose not only their best pilot but also the opportunity to advance robotechnology.

Gloval swore under his breath in Russian before commanding. “Lieutenant Fokker distract Megatron while goes into Darkmount to rescue pinned-down allied forces.”

“Understood, sir,” Roy replied. “Skull 1, Fox 2!”

“Thank you,” Phoenix said.

“Don’t make me regret it.” The captain muttered as he returned to his chair.

> **ORDERS RECEIVED AND UNDERSTOOD**
> 
> **NEW OBJECTIVE:**
> 
> **-RESCUE CYBERTRONIAN ALLIES ARCEE AND BUMBLEBEE**
> 
> **…**
> 
> **TRIANGULATING SIGNAL LOCATION**
> 
> **…**
> 
> **FOUND**
> 
> **ALTERING COURSE**
> 
> **LOCKING ON TARGET**
> 
> **...**
> 
> **FIRING ORDNANCE**
> 
> **...**
> 
> **HANG ON ARCEE. I'M COMING.**

**Inside Darkmount**   
**August 5, 2014, 1147 hours**

If there was one Arcee hated right now more than anything it was getting shot at. BuymbleBee and she had taken cover inside a room by the door frame. 'Cons were coming at them from both sides. Arcee's already taken a hit to the stomach and shoulder leaving her on the floor, blind firing around the corner. 'Bee's only received a few scrapes and had the shield, so he was popping around the corner taking potshots. Most-likely killing more Vehicons then she was.

‘Bee buzzed and whirred.(They're getting closer.)

Arcee hit head against the wall and radioed Ratchet. “We're getting shoved in a corner. Where’s that back up?”

“It’s on its way.” Ratchet notified her.

“When will it get here?”

A 'con stepped in front of the doorway and aimed its blaster at Arcee. Arcee and 'Bee watched in a mixture of horror and surprise as the weapon charged.The 'con folded over as it was kicked in the stomach by a white and red mech that Arcee's never seen before. It pointed its large pod-like gun at enemy's head and promptly blew it off.

The mech grabbed the deactivated Cybertronian and used it as a shield while he shot another 'con straight through the chest. While that one fell, the mech backed up into the room and casually tossed the body on the floor. The mech pulled a small case off the bottom of the gun and it replaced it. Arcee saw that the mech had similarities to that of a jet. It looked around before settling on Arcee and rushing over to her side.

"Are you alright?" His voice came over the comms.

Arcee looked like a deer caught in headlights. Its voice is just like, no, exactly like Jack's. "Jack?"

The mech tilted its head in confusion. "I don’t know who that is. The codename is Phoenix."

Bumblebee buzzed. (It's nothing. You sound like an old friend.)

Arcee sent him a glare.

Phoenix nodded as he stood up "Ok. Listen, the group on the left side is weaker. If we blow through we should get out."

"What about the other side?" Arcee asked.

From his side, a rack slid out, he pulled a missile from it then retracted the rack. A light on the missile started blinking and the tossed it down the right corridor. An explosion sounded and part of a vehicon head bounced in the room. He then transformed into a plane with arm and legs. Adding on to the mystery that he already was.

He dropped the gun on the floor. "Help me with her."

'Bee picked up Arcee and placed her in the half jet’s arms. The wings folded directly behind Phoenix.

"Bumblebee, take the gun-pod and get on my back. Be careful, you only have thirty-two hundred rounds and the gun has a high fire rate."

'Bee did as he was told and veritech lurched slightly under the increase of weight. The engines roared to life as he hovered to the edge of the door.

"Ready?" He confirmed.

Arcee nodded that she was ready as did 'Bee. Phoenix fired his engines and they turned sharply, down the now flaming corridor. Blaster bolts went over their heads, Arcee saw the unknown mech pop his head out from under the fuselage. The turrets rotated forward while the head turned around to fire at the 'cons behind them. Taking out a few before they turned a sharp corner, bracing a foot against the wall in order to not crash. He bounced off and continued on.

Some vehicons had gathered in their path that bumblebee took down with a combination of gun-pod and blaster fire. Phoenix blew through the smoke and the wreckage. He took another turn and there was the exit a hole that was blown in the wall with a group of insecticons standing in their path. Bumblebee unleashed another hail of blaster fire that had only managed to take down most of them save one. The last insecticon remained when Bumblebee ran out of ammo on the gun-pod that did most of the damage. Arcee raised her built-in blaster and shot the 'con in the head, deactivating it.

"Hang on!" Phoenix shouted.

The legs came up and the wings folded out. Bumblebee tightened his grip while Phoenix held Arcee closer. The femme noticed that the hole was too small and planned to voice this. However, any form of warning was halted when he fired a pair of missiles at the hole. It was now wide enough to fit then as they went through, but his wingtips scraped against the edges. Immediately they lost altitude and they descended rapidly.

The jet struggled to keep the nose up as he distanced himself from the tower. After some distance, he let himself fall to the ground, he brought his legs forward to slow down and ease the landing. Bumblebee hopped off and Phoenix laid Arcee on the ground as he shifted to battloid mode, kneeling next to the wounded Autobot. Everyone looked up to see a v-formation of fighters bomb Darkmount as the Decepticon warship rose into clouds. The tower toppled over and one could hear Megatron's cry of anguish.

'Bee gave the gunpod back to Phonix. (Thanks.)

Phoenix took it and locked it under his forearm. "No, problem."

Arcee stared at him with determination. "You are Jack, I'm sure of it."

Phoenix looked at her. "I'm sorry. I'm not him. I don’t mean to hurt you."

The whirring sound of a Groundbridge distracted Arcee and bumblebee, and when they turned around Phoenix was already airborne. Arcee didn't plan on giving up, she was convinced it was jack. Even if he was different, she could tell and she was not gonna lose him again. 'Bee brought her to his feet and guided her and she reluctantly followed. The female 'bot looked behind to see Phoenix join with two other jets.

'I will see you again, Jack.' She mentally swore as she followed the scout through the Groundbridge.

Smokescreen drove up just in time to watch Darkmount fall.

He transformed and stared in disbelief. "Come on, I missed the action."


	5. The Nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix returns to base for repairs, while Arcee does her best to convince her team of Jack's "survival". Gloval realizes it may be time to come out of the shadows and mobilizes his reinforced combat group. Team Primes learns of Phoenix's true nature.

> **CURRENT OBJECTIVES**
> 
> **-RETURN TO PHOENIX NEST FOR RESUPPLY**
> 
> **-WAIT FOR FURTHER ORDERS**

"Hey Phoenix. About Arcee, is she hot?" Roy called out on the radio.

> **OBJECTIVES UNDER CONSIDERATION**
> 
> **-NEUTRALIZATION OF THE ANNOYANCE KNOWN AS LIEUTENANT ROY FOKKER**

**Over the pacific, nearing NUNS Samuels  
August 5, 2014, 1313 hours**

"Come on, Roy. Quit giving him a hard time." Rick defended.

"Hey, come on. I'm just curious." Skull squadron leader countered.

"Alright now, knock off the chatter." Lisa interrupted. " Skull leader and Vermillion leader is to land on runway one. VTF-0 is to land on runway two and proceed to the maintenance deck for diagnosis."

"Roger." All SMS fighters replied even Phoenix.

It was an odd sensation for Phoenix, using his voice. Before the assault on Darkmount, he had thoroughly believed he didn't have a voice. After he remembered Arcee he remembered he had a voice but not what it sounded like. He still doesn't know why he chose a young man's voice, it just seemed natural to use it. Unfortunately, while it was good he was starting to regain his memories and he had his voice, he disobeyed orders, he expected an earful from Gloval

The NUNS Prometheus is a new prototype carrier created for the use of mecha and large-sized planes, as part of a new breed of super-carriers. It's about two or three times the size of your average carrier. The front of the ship looked like a hand or a claw. It comes with two pairs of launching and landing runways that are designed for small two fighter jets or cargo aircraft like C-17's. Its bridge was under the landing deck so it had been theorized that it could land a large commercial passenger aircraft but no one's been too enthusiastic to try that. What wasn't theory, was that it could hold 200 hundred aircraft with room to hold the necessary pilots. Right now it had the only had fifty or so aircraft. Only ten of those were fighters and the rest were transports for the Destroids. It more of a mobile base than a naval vessel.

Phoenix let Roy and rick land first, they pulled off into the side and into the elevator, and they dropped to the lower deck. Phoenix followed in onto runway two, as he slowed down he taxied to the elevator which lowered him to the maintenance deck which was below the hanger decks. An aircraft towing vehicle called a pushback hooked onto his front landing gear and pulled into the deck before backing him in a bay that mechanics hardware and toolboxes. Above him was a catwalk that surrounded the bay that had advanced computer monitors.

A man in a lab coat with brown hair and solid black eyes walked in front of Phoenix on the cat-walk. "Hello, Phoenix."

"Hello, Dr. Lang." The mech replied. Dr. Lang had a tablet in his hands that was patched into Phoenix's signaled that allowed his voice to go through.

"So. Looks like we had another memory flash." Dr. Lang flipped through some papers on a clipboard.

"Yes, sir."

"What did you remember?"

"Not much, sir. Just Arcee."

Lang looked up from the clipboard. "Remember, I'm your doctor and your therapist. Even though I'm not qualified for therapy nor any good at it, but that's not the point. The point is you can trust me."

Phoenix may not remember if he had a family, he feels like he doesn't need to. His team was his family. Dr. Emil Lang was like that uncle you could trust no matter what. Lisa was the over-watching big sister. Roy and Rick were his brothers, while Gloval was like a father to him.

Phoenix sighed. "I remembered that she's the one I've been wanting to protect, that I felt bad for leaving her. She was the partner I felt like I needed to help all this time."

"I knew you had a girl on the mind, but to be thinking about her that much. You must really like her." Roy called out with a laugh.

Off to the side of the catwalk, Roy and Rick laughed and Phoenix's embarrassed spluttering.

"Well, now that we've had our entertainment for the evening. Phoenix we're gonna have to unplug you and check you out. You may not remember much but today's events may have opened a gate that could allow us to force the rest of your memories out. Plus it seems like there was some damage done to your neural pathways, some repairs are going to be made." Dr. Land said as he placed the tablet on a nearby tray

"Understood."

> **PREPPING SLEEP MODE…**
> 
> **DEACTIVATING OPTICAL SENSORS**
> 
> …
> 
> **DEACTIVATED**
> 
> **DEACTIVATING AUDIO SENSORS**
> 
> …
> 
> **DEACTIVATED**
> 
> **DEACTIVATING LIMBIC SYSTEM**
> 
> …
> 
> **DEACTIVATED**
> 
> **SHUTTING DOWN ALL PROGRAMS**
> 
> …
> 
> **ENTERING SLEEP MODE**

Once Dr. Lang saw the notification pop up on the tablet that Phoenix was asleep, he sent the deck crew to collect the 'Cranium'. The deck crew pulled air tools off the wall and hooked them to air hoses. The loud whirring of the tools filled the bay as they unhooked the metal canopy and brought a harness on chains to lift it away. A cockpit was revealed but instead of a dashboard, an electronic assembly holding a dark-colored technological sphere with blue lights that looked that it was ripped from a sci-fi movie.

The retrieval team attached smaller air tools to the hoses and unhooked the sphere or as it was known by "the Cranium". The 'Cranium' is the device that holds Phoenix's consciousness. It was composed of the most advanced quantum computers humanity had to offer, as well as technology from recover cybertronians and the mysterious technology from the spacecraft on Macross Island. The deck crew hooked the cranium to another harness and brought to the catwalk where more crew set brought the device to a table covered in computers and unhooked it from the harness.

Lang hooked up the mixture of technologies to a group of computers. The screens flashed to life, data streaming across it. Eventually, it took the shape of a human brain. He began typing on the keyboard instructions to look for the memories of Jack. As well running a diagnostic.

"I'm still a little confused about something," Rick said.

"Oh? Go ahead, shoot." Lang replied.

Rick put his two pointer fingers together and apart before he held his hands out in confusion. "Are Phoenix and Jack like two separate personalities or what?"

Emil shook his head. "Phoenix and Jack are the same personality, the memories are just missing."

"I've read the file on Jack and he's not like Phoenix," Roy added.

Lang sighed. "You have to realize that Jack was raised just like any other teenage boy, Phoenix is what jack would be if he had joined the military."

"Ah, okay, but what had caused his memory loss?" Rick continued his questioning.

Lang held up a finger. "Memory loss is a misnomer in this case. It's more like memory repression. Right now there is a mental wall blocking his memories. What we believed happened was that his mind couldn't handle the transfer from the biological brain he was into the technological one. So, to protect his consciousness it locked his memories and personality in a box. Over time they've been leaking through. We're hoping to break through all the way eventually."

"Speaking of which, what's his progress?" Captain Gloval appeared beside Dr. Lang.

True to their military training, both Rick and Roy entered a salute.

"At ease." Ordered the captain.

Lang greeted, "Hello, Captain."

"Hello, Lang." Gloval nodded.

"As far as progress, we made some steps today. I can confirm more memories have surfaced."

"It seems your theory was right." Commented the naval veteran.

"Yes, the more he's exposed to people, things, or events of his past. The more that mental barrier is broken. I suggest that we have him become more involved with the Autobots. That way the barrier can be torn down completely." Lang suggested.

"Isn't there a danger to doing that?" Gloval asked.

The doctor rubbed his chin in thought as he looked at the results on the computers. "Everything has a risk, but yes. As evidenced by the incident at Darkmount, the memories could come through too strongly and the portions of Jack that come with them could be damaged. Look here."

Gloval looked at the screen. It showed a 3D model of Phoenix's neural network. It was code that circled in rings that went in every direction. The entire thing was shaped in a multilayered sphere that was colored azure. Orange streaks of code shot through and across the layers. Coming to the top layer and going back down in loops. However, some loops and rings ended in burning red.

"The blue lines are all his basic coding, his current memories, and downloaded information," Lang explained. "The lines of orange are his thought processes as they access his memory and coding. The red ends are damaged pathways, fractured memories, and corrupted data."

Gloval looked at the damage in shock. There wasn't a lot but it was enough to be concerned about. "One small memory caused all this?"

"Well," Lang dragged the word, "It was one small memory, yes, but it seems that attached to the memory was a bunch of emotions from a bunch of experiences that were similar to what happened the other day. This Arcee figure in danger and Jack being helpless.

"Except for this time," Roy added.

"Except for this time."

The Captain hummed in thought. "I want you to lay it out for me. What exactly are the risks of having Phoenix work with the Autobots?"

"At best, Phoenix will regain his memories and suffer from an identity crisis which can be helped with _proper_ therapy." Lang looked pointedly at gloval. "At worst, the memories and thus Jack can't handle the existing in a digital format and break down. Completely destroying his pathways going into a coma or going psychopathically insane and Judgement Day happens."

"What?!" Exclaimed the captain. "You expect me to send him to the Autobots knowing that."

Lang held his hands in supplication. "To be honest, the odds of the latter happening are pretty slim. Especially if we make sure to keep him properly maintenance. Permanent loss of memory is more likely, though still slim. However, expect more episodes like today."

"Oh?"

"Well, it depends on the strength of the memory but there may be a chance when he remembers it may become his only thought. Like today when he remembered Arcee. He would've gone no matter what you did."

"I know," Gloval stated with a frown.

"What I thought," Lang smirked before starting to type into the computers. "Now, give me space, I've got to start repairing these pathways."

Gloval nodded. "When you're done and put him back in, notify me I need to have a talk with him. Tell him we're going home. We're picking up the manned veritech fighters for Skull squadron and Lieutenant Rick will finally have reason to be called Vermilion leader."

Rick looked flabbergasted and Roy smiled, but both kept their mouths shut respectfully.

Lang had to stifle a laugh. "I'll tell him."

Gloval turned around and left. The brothers took off to the quarters arguing about Rick getting subordinates. Lang shook his head and continued his work. Ever since they had uploaded Jack's mind into the VF-0, the creation of manned veritechs took off. They planned on syncing the mind with the machine so the pilot could better man the guardian and battloid forms. Unfortunately, they had issues creating the device. Phoenix had allowed them to backtrack from a full-dive like Phoenix was to a half-dive. It was like the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality.

They still had to do a test run to see if the machines work outside the simulators.

**New Autobot HQ, Nevada  
August 5th, 2014 1941 hours**

"Are you sure, absolutely sure that he sounded like Jack?" Ratchet asked.

Arcee slammed her fist against the wall. "He didn't sound like him, he _is_ jack. I'm sure of it!"

Optimus held up a reassuring hand. "Calm down Arcee."

After the Battle of Darkmount, the Autobots received a new headquarters in one of the human air force bases. Agent Fowler had given thanks to the Autobots on behalf of a lot of important people. While it was nothing like their original base but it still felt like home. It would feel closer to home if Jack was here and that's what Arcee was trying to do. For the past few hours, she's been reciting her encounter and trying to convince them that Phoenix was Jack. So far, it hasn't been working to her advantage.

"I can't calm down, I have to go get Jack!" The femme shouted.

Bulkhead thudded over. "I don't mean to be like this but… Jack's dead."

Arcee incinerated the larger 'bot with her stare. "Then why did he use Jack's voice."

Fowler held his hands in uncertainty. "Maybe it just… ended up like his."

Arcee countered. "No way had it just _ended_ up like his, out of the Seven _billion _people on this planet."

"Lucky chance?" Smokescreen added in, to which Arcee glared in response.

"Arcee," Optimus butted in. "Could you speak with me in private?"

Arcee nodded and followed Optimus as he led her outside and into one of the other warehouses.

"What is it you wanted to talk about, sir?" Arcee crossed her arms.

"One thing I'd like you to know before I ask. You can answer as honest as you want to. Whatever you say will stay between us." Optimus said with a soft voice.

"Of course." Arcee rubbed her arms.

"Now, how do you know that Phoenix is Jack?"

"I…" She hesitated. "I don't know how. I just… you know that feeling when you know something with every fiber of your being?"

"I do."

"It's like that. I have no idea how but I'm sure that Phoenix is Jack."

Optimus looked at her for a few seconds, pondering. Arcee saw empathy in his eyes.

"I'll talk to Agent Fowler. There may be something he can find out or get into direct contact with these… SMS." He declared.

Arcee's eyes widened. "Thank You. Why…Why are you doing this?"

"I've been in your situation before and know how you feel." He said a note of sadness in his voice. "We should be getting back."

Arcee nodded. "Of course."

As superior and subordinate returned to the others, Arcee was filled with new hope. She planned on getting Jack back, even if it meant marching through both the Decepticon armada and the SMS.

**Macross Island, located off the coast of Hawaii  
August 9, 2014, 0921**

The NUNS Samuels had pulled in at the Macross port sometime last night. Macross Island was a small piece of land that was only able to hold a single city, which it did. The city of Macross and in the middle of it sat a city-sized spaceship. The ship was covered in scaffolding and was still under construction. Several years ago an alien spaceship crash-landed on Macross Island. The ship was discovered and the SMS was tasked with repairing since then it was dubbed the SDF-1. Then for six years the ship was rebuilt and modified with a combination of human, cybertronian and the technology they found on the ship. The technology was named Robotech and as a fact was the same technology used to make Phoenix.

Said veritech was currently helping with the construction, right now, as a kind of punishment for him disobeying orders. He helped with the heavy lifting, carrying steel plates, lining them up and holding them still as they were fixed into place. There wasn't a lot for the once-human to do and besides the workers were interesting company. Phoenix stepped back from holding a steel plate in place. He turned to grab another but at the fence separating the city and the construction was a teenage girl in a yellow dress and blue jacket with a wide sun hat. She had dark blue hair with _ eyes and was of Japanese descent. Beside her was Rick and both of them were waving.

"Hey guys, I'll be right back." Phoenix notified the others, speaking through his newly installed speakers.

The head construction worker nodded. "Don't take too long."

Phoenix walked over to where to the fence and crouched by the humans. "How ya doing?"

The girl – Minmei – smiled. "I'm doing good. How about you?"

"Oh, just working." The mech jerked a thumb towards the construction.

Ricked piped up. "I'm surprised that you're here. When you're off duty it's all but impossible to wake you up."

If Phoenix could glare he would. "Gloval assigned me as punishment for what happened at Darkmount. Anyways, what are you two doing here?"

Minmei shifted her weight. "Oh, I was just wondering if we're gonna do our movie night."

Phoenix nodded. "Wouldn't miss it. What about you, Rick?"

"Command sent me down to tell you they want you to help with the test run of the new VF-1J's. Also to help break in the newbies. They're waiting for you at the airbase" He folded his hands behind his head.

The Japanese girl put a finger in her chin. "That's right you're getting subordinates today aren't you?"

The lieutenant scoffed. "Don't remind me."

"Speaking of which, how do you feel about that?" Phoenix asked

Rick shrugged. "I'm more open to the idea than I was a few days ago."

Phoenix hummed. "Well, tell Lisa I'm on my way."

The two turned and walked away. Phoenix stood up and turned to the workers.

"I've gotta go, the military calls!" Phoenix shouted.

They waved goodbye as Phoenix entered guardian mode and ascended into the sky. Once he was well above the buildings, he changed into fighter mode and he made his way to the airbase. The veritech circled the base to get an aerial view. Several Vf-1J's were lined up as flight crews worked on them. Many of the advanced fighters had Skull squadron paint jobs. Only four of them had oddball paint jobs, one was primarily blue with white stripes, the other had a beige design. The other two he recognized, the Skull leader design and the red stripe design.

> **OBJECTIVE LOCATION REACHED**
> 
> **LINING UP FOR LANDING**
> 
> **ACTIVATING EDI PROGRAM**

**Macross Air Force Base, Macross Island  
August 9, 2014, 0929 hours**

"_I'm old enough to rock n roll"_

"_I'm old enough"_

Roy sighed. "There he goes again."

One of the subordinates that were sitting next him asked. "Who?"

The one who spoke was Max Sterling. He a bit small compared to some of the other pilots here, but he was taller than Rick. He had on a white and blue flight suit with his helmet on the ground. Max had blue hair and wireframe glasses covering his green eyes. Ben Dixon was the other subordinate, and he had some muscle mass. He had brown hair and brown eyes. His suit was white and beige. Ben was usually boisterous where Max was humble.

Roy ran his hand through his hair. "Oh, just Phoenix. He can be a little bit of a show-off."

As if to prove Roy's point, Phoenix did a fly-by over their heads. He turned sharply and lined himself with the runway. He shifted into guardian mode and stuck his legs forward to slow down. The feet scraped against the ground until they were solid on it. The engines were cut and Phoenix turned right and inertia still carried him the same direction. Battloid mode was activated and he slammed his hand against the ground, stopping right in front of the humans. The runway had a few scrape marks but was relatively unscathed. The runway was also modded to handle mechs.

Phoenix stood up as the music cut. "How was it?"

"Some fireworks, a little smoke, but otherwise not bad," Roy commented. "Meet Rick's subordinates, your new wingmen."

Max walked up. "Hi, I'm Max Sterling. I must say it's an honor to meet you. I would shake your hand but…"

Phoenix laughed. "It's a pleasure."

Skull leader slapped the bluehead on the shoulder. "This kid sure is something. He passed that Mecha Combat course you made with a solid 100%."

The rookie rubbed his head. "Yeah, it was slightly difficult."

"Slightly difficult? I was shot down in the first three minutes. How in the hell did you make that?" Ben exclaimed in disbelief.

"Anime," Phoenix said straight.

Ben just stared in more disbelief.

Phoenix held up a hand. "Ok. More like various works of fiction. I went on a beige awhile back watching various movies and shows and other entertainment related to Mecha and robots. After I had observed them I created that simulator to learn how to do Mecha Combat."

"What can't you just use normal dogfighting skills with veritechs," Ben asked.

Roy answered. "You can but in the simulator, I noticed it was kinda ineffective. Mecha Combat is an odd combination of dogfighting skills and ground combat skills. It's hard to explain but it's effective against both air and ground units. It is a rather complicated style but handy."

Ben gestured to Roy. "What did you get?"

"I only got a 61." The ace answered.

"What about Rick?"

"59."

"Speaking of which, where is our squad leader?" Max asked.

"Right here!" Rick shouted as he drifted the military jeep in beside them. He hopped out. "Sorry, I'm late. The taxi stayed five below the speed limit."

"Well, we're late for our test flight. You can make your introductions in the sky. Let's go." Roy rushed everyone to the jets.

Phoenix took off as he had at the construction site. It took some time for both squadrons to take off especially in the case of Skull squadron was a ten-pilot unit. Vermilion was only three but that totaled to thirteen jets. After they finished taking off, Phoenix pulled up in between Roy and Rick who was heading a V-formation. The group did some basic maneuvers, turns, rolls, and the like, getting them used to the new fighters.

" These things handle like a dream but how would these handle in combat." Roy noted

"We have the live combat simulator. We could use that?" Phoenix asked.

"Live combat sim?" Ben asked.

Phoenix affirmed. "Yeah works kinda like laser tag. You get hit and your jet will enter autopilot and land you at the airbase. What do ya think?"

He heard a unanimous agreement but Rick had an issue. "Who's gonna be the enemy or are we gonna teams?"

Max piped up. "Well, we're comparing the VF-1J's to Phoenix's VTF-0, right? So it makes that we fight him."

Roy agreed, "Max's logic is sound. Well, Phoenix?"

"Thirteen against one? Not fair, but I'm game." Phoenix hit the afterburners and disappeared from their sight.

> **LOCATING LIVE COMBAT SIMULATOR…  
FOUND**
> 
> **LOCATION: (SMS/SIMS/IRL/LIVE COMBAT SIM)  
DOWNLOADING...**
> 
> …
> 
> **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE  
RUNNING SIM**
> 
> **SIM LOADOUT DISTRIBUTED TO ALL UNITS  
1 X ENERGON PULSE CARBINE/3,200 AHEAD ROUNDS/2 X SPARE CARBINE MAGAZINES**
> 
> **12 X SEMRAAM (SYNTHETIC ENERGON MEDIUM RANGE AIR-TO-AIR MISSLES)  
24 X SESRAAM MICRO-MISSILES (SYNTHETIC ENERGON SHORT RANGE AIR-TO-AIR MISSLES)**
> 
> **2 X FAST PACK ADDITIONAL FUEL SYSTEMS**
> 
> **ACTIVATING PROTOCOL EDI**

"_put on your war paint"_

"_you are a big-time Juliet"_

"_striking me down"_

"_light a match and burn me to the ground"_

Phoenix chose his 'theme song' as his fellow wingmen call it. Protocol EDI is just more than theme music, it jams the enemy's radios on all channels and throws them into chaos. However, since this was allied radios he kept to a few channels. Once he felt he was out of sight he pulled a wide loop de loop hoping to come down from above Phoenix made sure to use his shadow device to disappear from their sensors, but they did the same. At this point he was coming right down on them, all he needed to use was some math and he'd be in the prime attack position. However, the veritech had performed the maneuver in a cloud.

Phoenix continued his maneuver and primed his 'weapons'. The sim worked on radio signals between the fighters and projects the line of fire for the Gunpods, and missiles. It also shows their projectile paths on the HUDS making as life-like as possible. The sim breaks in the fighters and tests out the skills of the two rookies. He came out of the cloud and as he had predicted they were still in formation. Phoenix locked his Micro-missiles on the most dangerous Rick, Roy and…

'Wait. Where's Max?' He thought.

Phoenix got a missile warning and he pulled out of the dive and into some hardcore evasive maneuvers. The best thing about not being a fleshie, don't have to worry about the g-forces. Max flew by before he entered battloid mode and fired a burst from his Gunpod. Phoenix barrel-rolled avoiding the sim rounds, then transformed into battloid and fired at Max. The two combatants circled around each other, firing round after round including the occasional missile at each other. The battle didn't last long as the rest of the V-formation joined in on the fight. Phoenix fired a wide swarm of Micro-missiles. Micro-missiles are missiles that launch twenty smaller missiles. The barrage took out three jets, they turned and headed for the landing strip.

Phoenix could tell this was gonna be an interesting fight.

**SDF-1 Bridge, Macross Island  
August 9, 2014, 1049 hours**

If the bridge crew wasn't on the Samuels, they were on the SDF-1 manning the bridge, keeping an eye on Phoenix.

"Lisa, what is the status of the test run for the new veritech fighters?" Gloval asked

The Coms-officer fiddled with some switches on her dashboard. "It looks like they're running that Live Combat Sim."

Gloval hummed. "Whose idea was that?"

"Phoenix's, sir."

"What I thought, go ahead and put it up on the main screen. Let's see how our top pilots do against Phoenix." Gloval smirked.

Lisa flipped a switch and the clear glass suddenly became a screen. As information streamed from the fighters and created a 3D model for the bridge crew to view at any angle. The girls exclaimed in amazement as Phoenix and the two squadrons battled it out. Despite being outnumbered, he was holding quite well. It seemed as if his focus was on Roy, rick and a VF with a blue paint scheme. Every time Phoenix went up against that blue fight, they're head-to-head in skill.

"Who's the piloting that blue veritech?" Claudia asked.

Lisa looked at her station. "Max sterling. It says here that he completed the Mecha Combat sim with… a hundred percent."

Sammie exclaimed. "But Phoenix is the only one who managed that."

"Not anymore," Lisa said.

'A rookie who's in his first veritech is matching Phoenix bullet for bullet. This Max is certainly an impressive pilot.' Gloval thought to himself.

"Captain, a call is coming in from our Autobot Watch team." Lisa notified.

"Let me talk to them." He ordered

Lisa nodded and did as she was told.

Gloval picked up the phone beside the captain's chair. "This is Captain Gloval."

"Gloval, This is Agent Smith. We have a problem." A deep male voice spoke.

"Go ahead." The Captain affirmed.

"Agent Fowler is looking into the SMS." Said Smith

Gloval hummed. "Go ahead and confront him, tell him everything. I'm already planning on Phoenix joining Team Prime."

"Yes, sir." Agent Smith hung up.

Gloval set down the phone and folded his hands together and placed his chin on it.

"What is it, sir?" Lisa asked.

"Agent Fowler had been trying to find out about us and since we're going to bring the Autobots into the fold, I've told Smith to tell Fowler first. Bring in our veritechs, land them at the Prometheus. The schedule has been pushed up." The captain declared as he stood up. "Also request Phoenix to find a new paint scheme. We don't need confusion amongst our ranks."

"Understood."

Gloval hit his head on the door on his way out. He rubbed his forehead, cussed in Russian and continued on.

> **DEACTIVATING PROTOCOL EDI**
> 
> **HALTING SIM…**
> 
> **RECEIVING NEW OBJECTIVES…  
RECEIVED**
> 
> **NEW PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:  
-RETURN TO PHOENIX NEST  
-PREPARE FOR NEXT MISSION**
> 
> **ENTERING COURSE FOR PHOENIX NEST**

**Autobot HQ, Fowler's office, Nevada  
August 9th, 2014 1100 hours**

Fowler was sitting in his office with Raf. Raf was currently using his computer to hack into the NUN servers. Fowler hated having the pre-teen boy do this but Optimus had requested the Agent to collect anything he could find about SMS and Phoenix. It was kind of out of nowhere but Fowler did his best. Apparently, his best means absolutely nothing because all he could find was the NUN server, no real information So, Raf is trying his trade and breaking into NUN. Right now they were only three levels in, they still haven't found much.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Raf exclaimed.

Fowler asked. "What's wrong?"

The boy typed furiously. "I just lost connection. I think they cut the hard lines."

"We did." A man in a tuxedo walked in. He had dark hair and wore dark sunglasses. Raf hid behind Fowler

Fowler drew his pistol that was hidden under his desk. "Who the hell are you?"

"Smith. Agent Smith." The agent pulled out a card. "Of the NUN SMS."

Agent Fowler took the card but kept the pistol elevated. It read:

New United Nations

Special Military Service

The Autobot representative handed the card back and holstered the gun back under the table.

Agent Smith pointed to the open chair on the other side of Fowler. "May I sit?"

"Of course," Fowler said tersely.

Smith took the seat and placed his folded hands in his lap. "I'll keep this short and simple."

"I appreciate that."

"Good." The SMS Agent nodded. "Recent events have forced my superiors to reveal their hand early, and now we are bringing you into the fold

"What fold?" Raf asked nervously

"Phoenix and Robotechnology." Agent Smith stated flatly.

Fowler scowled. "You have my interest."

"Good." Smith leaned forward. "I'll start at the beginning. Six years ago, the news reported a meteor crashing on an island in the pacific bringing a US coastal city to ruins."

"I remember that." Fowler stated, "I took part in the cleanup of that city."

"It wasn't a meteor but an alien ship."

"Cybertronian?" Raf asked curiously.

"No. Who though? we're uncertain." Smith shrugged. "Now, I'm sure you remember the Unification War at that time that came grinding to a halt."

"Yeah, it was considered the greatest act of peace in this century," Raf answered.

"How do you know that? You're like twelve." The agent asked bewildered.

"Thirteen." The boy stated. "And I pay attention in social studies."

"Then you should know that around that time NUN was formed as an effort to bring about world peace." The agent continued. "What was hidden was the real reason the World's governments banded together. They started working together because of the ship that crashed on the island. They realized that humanity was not alone and that there were other races out there that were capable of warships, unlike anything that could be imagined. So, representatives from practically every nation meet on this island. In what was secretly known as the Macross convention which served not only to unite the world under a strong unified power but to discuss the possible alien threat. Of course, the US felt obliged to bring up its alliance with the Autobots."

"Bet that created waves." Fowler chuckled.

Smith nodded. "It did but they had ultimately accepted it as a good thing. They knew that the Autobots would act as a defense while they prepared. Part of that preparation was the Special Military Services. An organization made of the best of the best of the strongest militaries on the planet. Who dedicate themselves to keep the peace, train to defend the planet, and to rebuilding the crashed ship and learning what they can about its technology. As a result, half a year ago they built a new kind of fighter jet made of human tech, cybertronian tech and tech from the ship which they called robotechnology_._" Agent smith nodded at the surprise on their faces. "Yes, Phoenix. Now, the superiors I'm representing is offering a merger of our two forces. Team Prime and the SMS, specifically those relating to Phoenix. What do you say?"

"What's in it for your people?" Fowler asked suspiciously.

The agent paused thinking about his words carefully before taking off his glasses showing his blue eyes. "Alright in the spirit of cooperation, I'll be honest. The ship's nearing completion and it won't be long before we go public. Hopefully, by teaming with Prime's unit we will have enough goodwill and we can protect Team Prime from any backlash."

Fowler folded his hands in thought. "I'll have a talk with prime."

The Agent stood, straightened his suit and put on his glasses. "That's fine with me. I'm just the messenger. Phoenix will be here in a little over three days, with my superior. Have your decision ready by then."

Agent Smith left through the front door.

Raf came out from behind Fowler. "I guess we got what Optimus wanted."

Agent fowler nodded. "Close to it, anyway. Let's go to tell Prime."

Fowler stood up and led Raf out to the Autobot base.

**Autobot HQ, Nevada  
August 12, 2014, 1124 hours**

Arcee leaned against the back wall of the base, thinking more than anything. Raf and Miko were at school. Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Smokescreen were lobbing the ball of wrecked steel they salvaged from the old base. As always Bulkhead managed to break something important to Ratchet. Like always, Ratchet got mad. Neither Optimus nor Ultra Magnus was nowhere to be seen. Most likely they were discussing the information that Agent Fowler had brought in. Arcee really didn't care about some ship that crashed. Her only thought was Jack or Phoenix or whatever they call him. Fowler had said that Phoenix and some SMS guys would be here today.

Arcee could faintly hear something in the distance, she walked outside. In the distance, she saw a helicopter. A Blackhawk, she believed.

"You might wanna cut down on the racket." She called out to the bot's inside. "They're here."

Optimus and Ultra Magnus came out of the warehouse next door. The rest of Team Prime walked out as the helicopter made its landing. The side door opened and two men walked out. One was in a lab coat with brown hair and solid black eyes, the other was in a blue captain's uniform. He had black hair and blues eyes with a mustache. The two men walked up fearlessly to the cybertronians.

The captain spoke. "Hello. I'm Captain Gloval of the SMS. This is Dr. Lang, our top mind."

Optimus nodded. "I'm Optimus Prime. May we go inside where we can speak more comfortably?"

"Of course," Gloval replied.

The Autobots went inside and the humans followed. Gloval and Lang climbed the catwalk that the Autobots were gathered around.

Once at the top Gloval spoke. "You must have many questions, but I think we should talk about the elephant in the room: Phoenix."

Unsettlement stirred among the Autobots but Arcee stewed in anger. It was time to see if she was right.

Gloval took off his hat. "First, how do I put this…? Phoenix is Jack but not in the way you think."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Arcee hissed.

Optimus gave her a reproachful look.

Gloval sighed. "You know the condition that Jack was in seven months ago. A couple of our agents came to him with an offer. We offered an escape from that. And I use similar words our agents did. The consequences were the loss of his body. And he may have temporary memory loss."

"What the hell do you mean?" Arcee growled.

"It's the side effect of the operation. The removal of his brain and placement inside of a war machine." Lang recited.

"That's messed up." Smokescreen commented

Arcee marched up and pointed her blaster. "So you treated Jack like a lab rat!"

Wheeljack smirked. "Ooh. This just got interesting."

Optimus reached over rested his hand on the blaster, and gently pushed it down. "I only have one question. Did you give Jack a choice?"

"We did. I gave explicit orders that Jack would have a choice." Gloval answered.

"While I may question the morality of it. You gave Jack the choice to accept your offer or not." Optimus stepped back.

Arcee stared at the Autobot leader in disbelief. "You can't just accept that."

Ultra Magnus butted in. "I only know what you all have told me, but what I understand is that the condition he was in was a no survival situation. Even if he lived long enough he'd only received a disease that would kill him."

Arcee growled but reluctantly retracted her blaster.

"There is one more thing you need to know. During the operation he lost his memories, however, they are retrievable. We noticed that if he's exposed to people or events that relate to his memories, they're brought out. We're hoping that being among you may bring all of his memories back."

Arcee's anger cooled down slightly at the idea of bringing jack back. "I'll go along."

Various forms of assent spread among the Autobots.

"There is one last thing to discuss before we can start to answer any more questions," Gloval stated.

(What's that?) Bumblebee asked in his buzzing language.

Lang answered understanding the scout perfectly surprising the Autobots for a few moments, "There is a danger with trying to get Jack's memories to surface. If you are too direct with Phoenix about him being Jack, his memories may come to fast and could cause damage, maybe insanity. You must treat him like you're just meeting him like he's Phoenix, not Jack."

"So, treat him like an absolute stranger. Like he wasn't our partner for over a year." Arcee said sarcastically. "Not a problem."

"I'm sorry, but that's the way it is." Lang apologized. "If we could come up with another way we would, but we can't."

Arcee scoffed.

Gloval nodded in vague awkwardness before stating. "Now you have a few hours before Phoenix gets here. Do you have any other questions?"

Rachet stepped forward. "Your agent said that cybertronian technology was involved with Phoenix's creation. What technologies specifically?"

"We use your Synthetic Energon formula and how to convert Energon into blaster bolts to provide a power source for the VTF-0, thruster fuel, and weapons tech," Lang responded.

"You fools!" The old medic cried. "Synth-En has a nasty side-effect of changing one's mind how do you know it hasn't affected what's left of Jack!"

"Because Synth-en affects only cybertronian minds." Lang countered. "The quantum computer system that houses jack is comprised of human technology and Robotechnology. The only cybertronian technology involved is the psychic cortical patch we built from scratch which is what allows Phoenix to control the VTF-0 mech."

"So, the machine is not really his body?" Smokescreen asked.

"He doesn't really have one, yet."

"What can you tell us about the race that built the crashed ship?" Magnus asked; his military mind analyzing a possible threat.

"Not much." lang answered, "We know next to nothing about their culture except they have a focus on their military and they are highly advanced. First of all, they have faster-than-light capabilities, their computer hardware easily matches Cybertronian computers, and they use energy-based weaponry. They also have a power source we have not yet learned how to recreate."

As the other Autobots continued to ask questions about there soon to be associates, Arcee turned and started walking out the warehouse.

Optimus looked at Arcee with concern. "Will you be alright?"

Arcee lied. "I'll be fine."

Honestly, the femme didn't know if she'll be able to keep a poker face around Phoenix. She could only hope that she could hang in long enough for Jack to remember on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to forewarn you that Macross Rising is gonna have larger scale battles like in the Bayformer movies, than the small skirmishes that happened on the show. Though the style will be in more of the shows. AKA no unnecessary explosions and a stronger concern for the civilian population.
> 
> songs:
> 
> I'm old enough to rock n roll - Rainey Haynes - iron eagle soundtrack
> 
> The phoenix - fall out boy


End file.
